Windows 7 Network connection problems - wireless & home networks

[pagallery]

I've just got an Acer 1810TZ laptop running Windows 7 Home and I've got some connectivity problems - i don't know if they are linked or separate issues.

Wireless connection
I'm trying to connect to the internet wirelessly through a Draytek Vigor2600G router. The router has got a Network key When I click on the Wireless Connections symbol in the bottom right hand corner the router is there (V2600G), I click on connect and get a message saying that Windows was unable to connect to V2600G. Troubleshooting doesn't identify any problems.

If I connect to the router with a cable then I can connect to the internet.

I've run the Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool and got the following results:

Basic Internet Connectivity Test - Supported
Network Address Translator Type - Not supported
Traffic Congestion Test - supported
TCP High Performance Test - supported
UPnP Support Test - not supported
Multiple Simultaneous Connection States Test - supported

Conclusion states that the internet router should work just as well with Windows Vista (so presumably with Windows 7) as with current operating system (I use XP Professional on my desktop)

I've been to Network & Sharing Centre, Set up a new connection or network, Manually connect to a wireless network,. When I get to the screen for Network name, etc, I've put in the existing network name (V2600G), security type WEP and the 13 digit security key. It then tells me the network already exists and to use Connect to a Network and I'm back at the beginning again with Windows unable to connect. What am I doing wrong?

Home Network

My other problem is that I have an existing home network called Gallery which has 3 existing computers on (all running XP). On the new computer (assuming that it is connected to the router) how do I get the Acer onto the existing home network and able to see the other computers and them able to see the Acer?

Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Thanks

 

[rlager]

Has the Acer Laptop been connected (wirelessly) to this router before, or is it a new laptop (or new for this network)? It could be a few things - the first thing that comes to mind is that MAC address security is enabled on this router for wireless connections.

Every device on the internet (or in a local area network) has a specific address associated with it called a MAC address. Your router has the ability to restrict access to the wireless network to only MAC addresses that you specify. This access security is separate from any encryption or security keys you may have also set up.

If MAC address security is set up, and the MAC address of the wireless card in your laptop is not on the list of allowed addresses - you will not be able to connect to the router wirelessly - even if you're entering the correct key.

To check on your router to see if this feature is enabled - you'll need to open a web browser and enter your router's IP address into the address bar (not sure what that address is - to find it you can follow the instructions below).

Once you have the IP addresss of the router and have entered it into the address bar - you may be prompted for a username/password to log into the router. If so - you'll need to enter it to proceed . If not - you'll be presented with the router's main configuration page.

To find out if MAC address security is enabled on your router - click on Wireless Lan Setup from the main screen - then click on Access Control from the Wireless Lan Setup menu.

If it is enabled - you can either disable it, or you can add the MAC address of the wireless card in your Acer to list of allowed addresses. Instructions for finding out the MAC address of your wireless card are below also.

Hope this helps. Not sure what else could be going on, but this may solve the problem for you.

How to find out your router's IP address and the MAC address of your wireless card....

Connect the Acer to the router with an ethernet cable.
Click the Start Orb (lower left corner of screen usually)
When the Menu appears enter in the letters "cmd" (without quotes) into the "Search Programs and Files" box.
Press Enter
You will now have a command prompt window on the screen. At the prompt type in "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) and press Enter.

A bunch of stuff will scroll by on the screen - you may have to scroll up to see it all

You're looking for two things here really. Since the Ethernet card is the only card connected to the router - that's where we need to look for the router's IP address. Scroll up or down until you see the entry for your ethernet card. It will probably have the words "Ethernet Adapter" in front of it, followed by the type of card (Nvidia, Broadcom, etc.).

Look for the default gateway entry under the Ethernet card. You should see an IP address (192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, etc.). This is the IP address of your router - make a note of it and use it in the instructions above.

The MAC address of your wireless card is also here somewhere - scroll up or down until you see an entry for your wireless card. Chances are it will have the words Wireless Adapter or something like that in front of it. Underneath that entry you'll see the Physical Address of the card (in the format 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-). This is the MAC address of the wireless card. Make a note of it and enter it into the access control portion of the wireless config page on your router as described above (if MAC addresss security is enabled and you decide you want to keep it that way).

 

[pagallery]

Thank you - this is a new machine that's never been connected wirelessly before. I found the MAC address and entered it onto the router access screen and the connection works beautifully.

I've also managed to get the new Acer onto the Home Network by renaming the Workgroup.